Paying A Web Designer
Web design is a rewarding profession for millions of companies and freelancers worldwide. However, sometimes web design can be risky for a web designer.
After your web project is complete and approved by you, it’s time to pay your freelance web designer or web design company.
Your designer website should tell you what forms of payment are accepted (online by credit card, electronic check, PayPal or by mail, or even in person). If not, be sure to ask how your designer would like to be paid. Most designers accept more than one form of payment so you can also let the designer know which way of payment is more convienent for you.
Many web designers request a deposit early in the development cycle. This is actually standard procedure for many web designers to reduce risk of doing a bunch of work for someone then getting stiffed (sad, but true - many web designers can tell you of an experience when they were stiffed before after doing 1 month or more worth of work). That said, don’t assume that the designer is being "shady" when they request a reasonable deposit up front (normally 10% to 25%). This is a "good faith" deposit that should go towards the overall price of the project.
Some web designers choose not to request a deposit and will take full payment once project is complete and approved by the client. This is good too, just usually more risky for the designer. Be flexible, as the designer that you choose to do your web project may or may not request a deposit. If your designer does request a deposit, be sure to get a receipt via email, fax and/or mail.
Finally, remember this point: take good care of your web designer and he will take good care of you!
